A woman rides a bicycle past a lit restaurant window on the Koningstraat in Haarlem at night, with string lights outlining rooftops down the street.

Last week on skigh.tv, August 23 - August 30, 2026

Haarlem by night

A nighttime wander through Haarlem's lit streets, canals, and landmarks — postcards and a few facts about the city along the way.

A black door with ivy climbing the brick facade beside it opens onto Smedestraat in Haarlem at night, the illuminated tower of the Grote Kerk rising in the distance down the cobbled street.

Walking in the streets of Haarlem

This set of postcards follows an evening through Haarlem , a city where lit facades and quiet water do most of the talking. On Smedestraat, a black door and ivy-covered brick frame a view down the street toward the glowing tower of the Grote Kerk, while a neon outline traces that same church, the Grote of St. Bavokerk, against the darkening sky elsewhere in the set. The Grote Kerk is Haarlem’s principal church, and its organ was once played by a young Mozart during a visit to the city. Nearby, on Koningstraat, a cyclist passes a glowing restaurant window under string lights strung between the rooftops, a small, ordinary moment of the city moving through its own evening.
A neon light outline of the Grote of St. Bavokerk's silhouette glows orange above a Haarlem street, with the church's actual stone tower rising behind it at dusk.

Pink Beer

Elsewhere, the Amadeus Hotel glows pink beneath a lit Heineken sign, its cafe umbrellas folded over an empty square, and a cyclist passes the neon-lit “Coffeeshop Empire” sign on another Haarlem street, a church tower rising behind the rooftops. On the Grote Markt, the statue of Laurens Janszoon Coster stands quietly at night, terraces and lit facades glowing behind him. Coster is traditionally credited by some in the Netherlands as an early inventor of movable-type printing, though the attribution remains disputed among historians.
A woman rides a bicycle past a lit restaurant window on the Koningstraat in Haarlem at night, with string lights outlining rooftops down the street.
The night ends along the Nieuwe Gracht, where gabled canal houses and their streetlit windows mirror in the still water below, rowboats and parked cars lining the quiet quay. It’s a fitting close to a walk through a city built as much around its water as its streets — proof, again, that the everyday, lit just right, can be enough to stop and look at.

“The Amadeus Hotel in Haarlem glows pink at night, a lit Heineken sign above and cafe umbrellas on the square below.”

A cyclist rides down a dusk street in Haarlem lined with lit shopfronts, including the neon "Coffeeshop Empire" sign, bare-branched trees, and a church tower in the distance.
A black door with ivy climbing the brick facade beside it opens onto Smedestraat in Haarlem at night, the illuminated tower of the Grote Kerk rising in the distance down the cobbled street.
A neon light outline of the Grote of St. Bavokerk's silhouette glows orange above a Haarlem street, with the church's actual stone tower rising behind it at dusk.
A woman rides a bicycle past a lit restaurant window on the Koningstraat in Haarlem at night, with string lights outlining rooftops down the street.
Rowboats and parked cars line the Nieuwe Gracht in Haarlem at night, illuminated brick townhouses and their lights mirrored in the still canal water below.
Rowhouses with stepped and bell gables line the Nieuwe Gracht canal at night, their lit windows and facades reflected in the still water, cars and small boats parked alongside.

Haarlem

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A cyclist rides down a dusk street in Haarlem lined with lit shopfronts, including the neon "Coffeeshop Empire" sign, bare-branched trees, and a church tower in the distance. Haarlem Aug 16, 2026 A black door with ivy climbing the brick facade beside it opens onto Smedestraat in Haarlem at night, the illuminated tower of the Grote Kerk rising in the distance down the cobbled street. Smedestraat, Haarlem Aug 17, 2026 A neon light outline of the Grote of St. Bavokerk's silhouette glows orange above a Haarlem street, with the church's actual stone tower rising behind it at dusk. De Grote of St. Bavokerk te Haarlem Aug 18, 2026 A woman rides a bicycle past a lit restaurant window on the Koningstraat in Haarlem at night, with string lights outlining rooftops down the street. Koningstraat, Haarlem Aug 19, 2026 Rowboats and parked cars line the Nieuwe Gracht in Haarlem at night, illuminated brick townhouses and their lights mirrored in the still canal water below. Nieuwe Gracht reflections Sep 08, 2026 Rowhouses with stepped and bell gables line the Nieuwe Gracht canal at night, their lit windows and facades reflected in the still water, cars and small boats parked alongside. Nieuwe Gracht by night Sep 09, 2026